Question Can there be an abstract class with no abstract methods in it?

Answer Yes

Question Can an Interface be final?

Answer No

Question Can an Interface have an inner class?

Yes
public interface abc
{
static int i=0;
void add();
class a1
{
a1()
{
Answer
int j;
System.out.println("in interfia");
};
public static void main(String a1[])
{
System.out.println("in interfia");
}
}
}

Can we define private and protected modifiers for variables in

Question
interfaces?
Answer No

Question What is Externalizable?

Externalizable is an Interface that extends Serializable Interface. And
Answer sends data into Streams in Compressed Format. It has two methods,
writeExternal(ObjectOuput out) and readExternal(ObjectInput in)

Question What modifiers are allowed for methods in an Interface?

Answer Only public and abstract modifiers are allowed for methods in interfaces.

Question What is a local, member and a class variable?

Variables declared within a method are "local" variables.
Variables declared within the class i.e not within any methods are
Answer "member" variables (global variables).
Variables declared within the class i.e not within any methods and are
defined as "static" are class variables
 I made my class Cloneable but I still get 'Can't access protected method
Question
clone. Why?
Yeah, some of the Java books, in particular "The Java Programming
Language", imply that all you have to do in order to have your class
support clone() is implement the Cloneable interface. Not so. Perhaps that
Answer
was the intent at some point, but that's not the way it works currently. As
it stands, you have to implement your own public clone() method, even if it
doesn't do anything special and just calls super.clone().

Question What are the different identifier states of a Thread?

The different identifiers of a Thread are:
R - Running or runnable thread
S - Suspended thread
Answer
CW - Thread waiting on a condition variable
MW - Thread waiting on a monitor lock
MS - Thread suspended waiting on a monitor lock

Question Can we overload main method in java?

Yes. But the main method with String args[] is called when you call the
programme (java Test1) Have a look at this demo.
public class Test1
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
System.out.println("in main method");
Answer
}

public static void main(String args[],String arg[])

{
System.out.println("in overload method");
}
}

Question What are some alternatives to inheritance?

Delegation is an alternative to inheritance. Delegation means that you
include an instance of another class as an instance variable, and forward
messages to the instance. It is often safer than inheritance because it
forces you to think about each message you forward, because the instance
Answer
is of a known class, rather than a new class, and because it doesn't force
you to accept all the methods of the super class: you can provide only the
methods that really make sense. On the other hand, it makes you write
more code, and it is harder to re-use (because it is not a subclass).

Question Why isn't there operator overloading?

 Because C++ has proven by example that operator overloading makes
code almost impossible to maintain. In fact there very nearly wasn't even
method overloading in Java, but it was thought that this was too useful for
Answer
some very basic methods like print(). Note that some of the classes like
DataOutputStream have unoverloaded methods like writeInt() and
writeByte().

Question Why do threads block on I/O?

Threads block on i/o (that is enters the waiting state) so that other
Answer
threads may execute while the i/o Operation is performed.

Question What is synchronization and why is it important?

With respect to multithreading, synchronization is the capability to control
the access of multiple threads to shared resources. Without
Answer synchronization, it is possible for one thread to modify a shared object
while another thread is in the process of using or updating that object's
value. This often leads to significant errors.

Question Is null a keyword?

Answer The null value is not a keyword.

Which characters may be used as the second character of an identifier,but

Question
not as the first character of an identifier?
The digits 0 through 9 may not be used as the first character of an
Answer
identifier but they may be used after the first character of an identifier.

What modifiers may be used with an inner class that is a member of an

Question
outer class?
A (non-local) inner class may be declared as public, protected, private,
Answer
static, final, or abstract.

How many bits are used to represent Unicode, ASCII, UTF-16, and UTF-8
Question
characters?
Unicode requires 16 bits and ASCII require 7 bits. Although the ASCII
character set uses only 7 bits, it is usually represented as 8 bits. UTF-8
Answer
represents characters using 8, 16, and 18 bit patterns. UTF-16 uses 16-bit
and larger bit patterns.

Question What are wrapped classes?

Wrapped classes are classes that allow primitive types to be accessed as
Answer
objects.
 What restrictions are placed on the location of a package statement
Question
within a source code file?
A package statement must appear as the first line in a source code file
Answer
(excluding blank lines and comments).

Question What is the difference between preemptive scheduling and time slicing?
Under preemptive scheduling, the highest priority task executes until it
enters the waiting or dead states or a higher priority task comes into
Answer existence. Under time slicing, a task executes for a predefined slice of time
and then reenters the pool of ready tasks. The scheduler then determines
which task should execute next, based on priority and other factors.

Question What is a native method?

A native method is a method that is implemented in a language other
Answer
than Java.

Question What are order of precedence and associativity, and how are they used?
Order of precedence determines the order in which operators are
Answer evaluated in expressions. Associatity determines whether an expression is
evaluated left-to-right or right-to-left

Question What is the catch or declare rule for method declarations?

If a checked exception may be thrown within the body of a method, the
Answer
method must either catch the exception or declare it in its throws clause.

Can an anonymous class be declared as implementing an interface and

Question
extending a class?
An anonymous class may implement an interface or extend a superclass,
Answer
but may not be declared to do both.

Question What is the range of the char type?

Answer The range of the char type is 0 to 2^16 - 1.

Question What is the purpose of finalization?

The purpose of finalization is to give an unreachable object the
Answer opportunity to perform any cleanup processing before the object is
garbage collected.

What is the difference between the Boolean & operator and the &&
Question
operator?
Answer If an expression involving the Boolean & operator is evaluated, both
 operands are evaluated. Then the & operator is applied to the operand.
When an expression involving the && operator is evaluated, the first
operand is evaluated. If the first operand returns a value of true then the
second operand is evaluated. The && operator is then applied to the first
and second operands. If the first operand evaluates to false, the evaluation
of the second operand is skipped.

How many times may an object's finalize() method be invoked by the

Question
garbage collector?
An object's finalize() method may only be invoked once by the garbage
Answer
collector.
What is the purpose of the finally clause of a try-catch-finally
Question
statement?
The finally clause is used to provide the capability to execute code no
Answer
matter whether or not an exception is thrown or caught.

Question What is the argument type of a program's main() method?

Answer A program's main() method takes an argument of the String[] type.

Question Which Java operator is right associative?

Answer The = operator is right associative.

Question Can a double value be cast to a byte?

Answer Yes, a double value can be cast to a byte.

What is the difference between a break statement and a continue

Question
statement?
A break statement results in the termination of the statement to which it
Answer applies (switch, for, do, or while). A continue statement is used to end the
current loop iteration and return control to the loop statement.

Question What must a class do to implement an interface?

It must provide all of the methods in the interface and identify the
Answer
interface in its implements clause.

What is the advantage of the event-delegation model over the earlier

Question
event-inheritance model?
Answer The event-delegation model has two advantages over the event-
inheritance model. First, it enables event handling to be handled by objects
other than the ones that generate the events (or their containers). This
allows a clean separation between a component's design and its use. The
other advantage of the event-delegation model is that it performs much
 better in applications where many events are generated. This performance
improvement is due to the fact that the event-delegation model does not
have to repeatedly process unhandled events, as is the case of the event-
inheritance model.

How are commas used in the intialization and iteration parts of a for
Question
statement?
Commas are used to separate multiple statements within the initialization
Answer
and iteration parts of a for statement.

Question What is an abstract method?

An abstract method is a method whose implementation is deferred to a
Answer
subclass.

Question What value does read() return when it has reached the end of a file?
Answer The read() method returns -1 when it has reached the end of a file.

Question Can a Byte object be cast to a double value?

Answer No, an object cannot be cast to a primitive value.

Question What is the difference between a static and a non-static inner class?
A non-static inner class may have object instances that are associated
Answer with instances of the class's outer class. A static inner class does not have
any object instances.

Question If a variable is declared as private, where may the variable be accessed?

A private variable may only be accessed within the class in which it is
Answer
declared.

Question What is an object's lock and which object's have locks?

An object's lock is a mechanism that is used by multiple threads to obtain
synchronized access to the object. A thread may execute a synchronized
Answer method of an object only after it has acquired the object's lock. All objects
and classes have locks. A class's lock is acquired on the class's Class
object.

Question What is the % operator?

It is referred to as the modulo or remainder operator. It returns the
Answer
remainder of dividing the first operand by the second operand.

Question When can an object reference be cast to an interface reference?

 An object reference be cast to an interface reference when the object
Answer
implements the referenced interface.

Question Which class is extended by all other classes?

Answer The Object class is extended by all other classes.

Question Can an object be garbage collected while it is still reachable?

A reachable object cannot be garbage collected. Only unreachable objects
Answer
may be garbage collected.

Question Is the ternary operator written x : y ? z or x ? y : z ?

Answer It is written x ? y : z.

Question How is rounding performed under integer division?

The fractional part of the result is truncated. This is known as rounding
Answer
toward zero.
What is the difference between the Reader/Writer class hierarchy and the
Question
InputStream/OutputStream class hierarchy?
The Reader/Writer class hierarchy is character-oriented, and the
Answer
InputStream/OutputStream class hierarchy is byte-oriented.

Question What classes of exceptions may be caught by a catch clause?

A catch clause can catch any exception that may be assigned to the
Answer
Throwable type. This includes the Error and Exception types.

QuestionDoes a class inherit the constructors of its superclass?

Answer A class does not inherit constructors from any of its superclasses.

Question What is the purpose of the System class?

The purpose of the System class is to provide access to system
Answer
resources.

Question Name the eight primitive Java types.

The eight primitive types are byte, char, short, int, long, float, double,
Answer
and boolean.

Which class should you use to obtain design information about an

Question
object?
Answer The Class class is used to obtain information about an object's design.
Question Is "abc" a primitive value?
Answer The String literal "abc" is not a primitive value. It is a String object.

What restrictions are placed on the values of each case of a switch

Question
statement?
During compilation, the values of each case of a switch statement must
Answer
evaluate to a value that can be promoted to an int value.

Question What modifiers may be used with an interface declaration?

Answer An interface may be declared as public or abstract.

Question Is a class a subclass of itself?

Answer A class is a subclass of itself.

Question What is the difference between a while statement and a do statement?

A while statement checks at the beginning of a loop to see whether the
next loop iteration should occur. A do statement checks at the end of a
Answer
loop to see whether the next iteration of a loop should occur. The do
statement will always execute the body of a loop at least once.
Question What modifiers can be used with a local inner class?
Answer A local inner class may be final or abstract.

Question What is the purpose of the File class?

The File class is used to create objects that provide access to the files and
Answer
directories of a local file system.

Question Can an exception be rethrown?

Answer Yes, an exception can be rethrown.

Question When does the compiler supply a default constructor for a class?
The compiler supplies a default constructor for a class if no other
Answer
constructors are provided.

If a method is declared as protected, where may the method be

Question
accessed?
A protected method may only be accessed by classes or interfaces of the
Answer
same package or by subclasses of the class in which it is declared.
 Which non-Unicode letter characters may be used as the first character of
Question
an identifier?
The non-Unicode letter characters $ and _ may appear as the first
Answer
character of an identifier

Question What restrictions are placed on method overloading?

Two methods may not have the same name and argument list but
Answer
different return types.

Question What is casting?

There are two types of casting, casting between primitive numeric types
and casting between object references. Casting between numeric types is
Answer used to convert larger values, such as double values, to smaller values,
such as byte values. Casting between object references is used to refer to
an object by a compatible class, interface, or array type reference.

Question What is the return type of a program's main() method?

Answer A program's main() method has a void return type.

Question What class of exceptions are generated by the Java run-time system?
The Java runtime system generates RuntimeException and Error
Answer
exceptions.

Question What class allows you to read objects directly from a stream?
The ObjectInputStream class supports the reading of objects from input
Answer
streams.

Question What is the difference between a field variable and a local variable?
A field variable is a variable that is declared as a member of a class. A
Answer
local variable is a variable that is declared local to a method.

Question How are this() and super() used with constructors?

this() is used to invoke a constructor of the same class. super() is used to
Answer
invoke a superclass constructor.

What is the relationship between a method's throws clause and the

Question
exceptions that can be thrown during the method's execution?
A method's throws clause must declare any checked exceptions that are
Answer
not caught within the body of the method.
Question Why are the methods of the Math class static?
Answer So they can be invoked as if they are a mathematical code library.

Question What are the legal operands of the instanceof operator?

The left operand is an object reference or null value and the right operand
Answer
is a class, interface, or array type.

Question What an I/O filter?

An I/O filter is an object that reads from one stream and writes to
Answer another, usually altering the data in some way as it is passed from one
stream to another.

Question If an object is garbage collected, can it become reachable again?

Once an object is garbage collected, it ceases to exist. It can no longer
Answer
become reachable again.

Question What are E and PI?

Answer E is the base of the natural logarithm and PI is mathematical value pi.

Question Are true and false keywords?

Answer The values true and false are not keywords.

Question What is the difference between the File and RandomAccessFile classes?
The File class encapsulates the files and directories of the local file
Answer system. The RandomAccessFile class provides the methods needed to
directly access data contained in any part of a file.

Question What happens when you add a double value to a String?

Answer The result is a String object.

Question What is your platform's default character encoding?

If you are running Java on English Windows platforms, it is probably
Answer Cp1252. If you are running Java on English Solaris platforms, it is most
likely 8859_1.

Question Which package is always imported by default?

Answer The java.lang package is always imported by default.
 What interface must an object implement before it can be written to a
Question
stream as an object?
An object must implement the Serializable or Externalizable interface
Answer
before it can be written to a stream as an object.

Question Whats the difference between notify() and notifyAll()?

notify() is used to unblock one waiting thread; notifyAll() is used to
unblock all of them. Using notify() is preferable (for efficiency) when only
one blocked thread can benefit from the change (for example, when
Answer
freeing a buffer back into a pool). notifyAll() is necessary (for correctness)
if multiple threads should resume (for example, when releasing a "writer"
lock on a file might permit all "readers" to resume).

Question Why can't I say just abs() or sin() instead of Math.abs() and Math.sin()?
The import statement does not bring methods into your local name
space. It lets you abbreviate class names, but not get rid of them
altogether. That's just the way it works, you'll get used to it. It's really a lot
safer this way. <br> However, there is actually a little trick you can use in
some cases that gets you what you want. If your top-level class doesn't
Answer
need to inherit from anything else, make it inherit from java.lang.Math.
That *does* bring all the methods into your local name space. But you
can't use this trick in an applet, because you have to inherit from
java.awt.Applet. And actually, you can't use it on java.lang.Math at all,
because Math is a "final" class which means it can't be extended.

Question Wha is the output from System.out.println("Hello"+null);

Answer Hellonull

Question Why are there no global variables in Java?

Global variables are considered bad form for a variety of reasons:
· Adding state variables breaks referential transparency (you no longer can
understand a statement or expression on its own: you need to understand
it in the context of the settings of the global variables).
· State variables lessen the cohesion of a program: you need to know more
to understand how something works. A major point of Object-Oriented
Answer
programming is to break up global state into more easily understood
collections of local state.
· When you add one variable, you limit the use of your program to one
instance. What you thought was global, someone else might think of as
local: they may want to run two copies of your program at once.
For these reasons, Java decided to ban global variables.

Question What does it mean that a class or member is final?

Answer A final class can no longer be subclassed. Mostly this is done for security
reasons with basic classes like String and Integer. It also allows the
 compiler to make some optimizations, and makes thread safety a little
easier to achieve.
Methods may be declared final as well. This means they may not be
overridden in a subclass.
Fields can be declared final, too. However, this has a completely different
meaning. A final field cannot be changed after it's initialized, and it must
include an initializer statement where it's declared. For example,
public final double c = 2.998;
It's also possible to make a static field final to get the effect of C++'s const
statement or some uses of C's #define, e.g.
public static final double c = 2.998;

Question What does it mean that a method or class is abstract?

An abstract class cannot be instantiated. Only its subclasses can be
instantiated. You indicate that a class is abstract with the abstract keyword
like this:
public abstract class Container extends Component {
Abstract classes may contain abstract methods. A method declared
abstract is not actually implemented in the current class. It exists only to
Answer be overridden in subclasses. It has no body. For example,
public abstract float price();
Abstract methods may only be included in abstract classes. However, an
abstract class is not required to have any abstract methods, though most
of them do.
Each subclass of an abstract class must override the abstract methods of
its superclasses or itself be declared abstract.

Question what is a transient variable?

Answer transient variable is a variable that may not be serialized.

Question How are Observer and Observable used?

Objects that subclass the Observable class maintain a list of observers.
When an Observable object is updated it invokes the update() method of
Answer each of its observers to notify the observers that it has changed state. The
Observer interface is implemented by objects that observe Observable
objects.

Question Can a lock be acquired on a class?

Yes, a lock can be acquired on a class. This lock is acquired on the class's
Answer
Class object.

Question What state does a thread enter when it terminates its processing?
Answer When a thread terminates its processing, it enters the dead state.

Question How does Java handle integer overflows and underflows?

 It uses those low order bytes of the result that can fit into the size of the
Answer
type allowed by the operation.

Question What is the difference between the >> and >>> operators?
The >> operator carries the sign bit when shifting right. The >>> zero-
Answer
fills bits that have been shifted out.

Question Is sizeof a keyword?

Answer The sizeof operator is not a keyword.

Does garbage collection guarantee that a program will not run out of
Question
memory?
Garbage collection does not guarantee that a program will not run out of
memory. It is possible for programs to use up memory resources faster
Answer
than they are garbage collected. It is also possible for programs to create
objects that are not subject to garbage collection

Question Can an object's finalize() method be invoked while it is reachable?

An object's finalize() method cannot be invoked by the garbage collector
Answer while the object is still reachable. However, an object's finalize() method
may be invoked by other objects.

Question What value does readLine() return when it has reached the end of a file?
Answer The readLine() method returns null when it has reached the end of a file.

Question Can a for statement loop indefinitely?

Yes, a for statement can loop indefinitely. For example, consider the
Answer
following: for(;;) ;

Question To what value is a variable of the String type automatically initialized?

Answer The default value of an String type is null.

Question What is a task's priority and how is it used in scheduling?

A task's priority is an integer value that identifies the relative order in
which it should be executed with respect to other tasks. The scheduler
Answer attempts to schedule higher priority tasks before lower priority tasks.

Question What is the range of the short type?

Answer The range of the short type is -(2^15) to 2^15 - 1.
Question What is the purpose of garbage collection?
The purpose of garbage collection is to identify and discard objects that
Answer are no longer needed by a program so that their resources may be
reclaimed and reused.

Question What do you understand by private, protected and public?

These are accessibility modifiers. Private is the most restrictive, while
public is the least restrictive. There is no real difference between protected
Answer and the default type (also known as package protected) within the context
of the same package, however the protected keyword allows visibility to a
derived class in a different package.

Question What is Downcasting ?

Downcasting is the casting from a general to a more specific type, i.e.
Answer
casting down the hierarchy

Can a method be overloaded based on different return type but same

Question
argument type ? (
No, because the methods can be called without using their return type in
Answer
which case there is ambiquity for the compiler

Question What happens to a static var that is defined within a method of a class?
Answer Can't do it. You'll get a compilation error

Question How many static init can you have ?

As many as you want, but the static initializers and class variable
initializers are executed in textual order and may not refer to class
Answer
variables declared in the class whose declarations appear textually after
the use, even though these class variables are in scope.

What is the difference amongst JVM Spec, JVM Implementation, JVM

Question
Runtime ?
The JVM spec is the blueprint for the JVM generated and owned by Sun.
The JVM implementation is the actual implementation of the spec by a
Answer
vendor and the JVM runtime is the actual running instance of a JVM
implementation

Question Describe what happens when an object is created in Java?

Answer Several things happen in a particular order to ensure the object is
constructed properly:
1. Memory is allocated from heap to hold all instance variables and
implementation-specific data of the object and its superclasses.
Implemenation-specific data includes pointers to class and method data.
 2. The instance variables of the objects are initialized to their default
values.
3. The constructor for the most derived class is invoked. The first thing a
constructor does is call the consctructor for its superclasses. This process
continues until the constrcutor for java.lang.Object is called, as
java.lang.Object is the base class for all objects in java.
4. Before the body of the constructor is executed, all instance variable
initializers and initialization blocks are executed. Then the body of the
constructor is executed. Thus, the constructor for the base class completes
first and constructor for the most derived class completes last.

What does the "final" keyword mean in front of a variable? A method? A

Question
class?
FINAL for a variable : value is constant
Answer FINAL for a method : cannot be overridden
FINAL for a class : cannot be derived

Question What is the difference between instanceof and isInstance?

instanceof is used to check to see if an object can be cast into a specified
type without throwing a cast class exception.
isInstance()
Determines if the specified Object is assignment-compatible with the object
Answer represented by this Class. This method is the dynamic equivalent of the
Java language instanceof operator. The method returns true if the specified
Object argument is non-null and can be cast to the reference type
represented by this Class object without raising a ClassCastException. It
returns false otherwise.

Question Why is not recommended to have instance variables in Interface

By Default, All data members and methods in an Interface are public.
Having public variables in a class that will be implementing it will be
Answer violation of the Encapsulation principal. I hope that's pretty ok.. If anybody
has a better framed answer. U r welcome at
reema_gupta@intersolutions.stpn.soft.net

Question What is the diffrence between inner class and nested class?
When a class is defined within a scope od another class, then it becomes
inner class.
Answer
If the access modifier of the inner class is static, then it becomes nested
class.

Question How the private constructor is called in the main java programme?
Answer Have a look at this demo. public class Test2
{
private Test2()
{
 System.out.println("Test2class");
}

class Subclass extends Test2

{
public Subclass()
{
System.out.println("Subclass");
}
}

public static void main(String[] args)

{
Subclass s = new Test2().new Subclass();
}
}
This works because an inner class is allowed to access private members of
its enclosing instance, including the private constructor.

Question Which is garbage collected first: Normal variables or static variables?

Normal variables will be collected first. Lets take a simple example:
Class A is having a static variable s which is used by obj1, obj2 and obj3 of
Class B. Each object of class B is having instance variables a and b (normal
variables). Lets say if obj1 is not being in use since long time, then
automatically the garbage collector will collect the space occupied by obj1.
Answer
It will not destroy the static variable S as it is being used by the other two
objects obj2 and obj3. Therefore only normal variables will be destroyed
first.
We can say it in a simple statement that "Variables having less scope will
be destroyed first"

Question Diffrence between JRE And JVM AND JDK (CoreJava)

The "JDK" is the Java Development Kit. I.e., the JDK is bundle of software
that you can use to develop Java based software. The "JRE" is the Java
Runtime Environment. I.e., the JRE is an implementation of the Java
Answer Virtual Machine which actually executes Java programs. Typically, each JDK
contains one (or more) Joe’s along with the various development tools like
the Java source compilers, bundling and deployment tools, debuggers,
development libraries, etc.

Question is it necessary to initialize a final variable at the time of declaretion ?

Answer NO, it's not necessary.
Many text books say like this but thats not true. Value of a final variable
can be instance specific also, but in this case we have to initialise the
variable in all the constructors.
If we want to have a common final value of a variable for all the instances
then there are two ways.
1. Initialise the variable at class level (at the time of declaration) or 2. just
 declare variable at class level and initialise it in any one of the instance
blocks i.e.
A. class A { final int a; {a=5;}}
B. class A { final int a = 5;}

What is the output of the following line.

Question
System.out.println(-5<<-2);
At This point of time I am not sure about the answer. If anybody knows,
please tell me at
Answer
raja8top@yahoo.com OR raja_choudhary@rediffmail.com
I shall be highly thankful to you.

Question What is a compilation unit?

Answer A compilation unit is a Java source code file.

Question What restrictions are placed on method overriding?

Overridden methods must have the same name, argument list, and
return type.
The overriding method may not limit the access of the method it overrides.
Answer
The overriding method may not throw any exceptions that may not be
thrown by the overridden method.

Question How can a dead thread be restarted?

Answer A dead thread cannot be restarted.

Question What happens if an exception is not caught?

An uncaught exception results in the uncaughtException() method of the
Answer thread's ThreadGroup being invoked, which eventually results in the
termination of the program in which it is thrown.

Which arithmetic operations can result in the throwing of an

Question
ArithmeticException?
Answer Integer / and % can result in the throwing of an ArithmeticException

Can an abstract class be final?

Question
Answer An abstract class may not be declared as final

What happens if a try-catch-finally statement does not have a catch

Question clause to handle an exception that is thrown within the body of the try
statement?
 The exception propagates up to the next higher level try-catch statement
Answer
(if any) or results in the program's termination

Question What is numeric promotion?

Numeric promotion is the conversion of a smaller numeric type to a larger
numeric type, so that integer and floating-point operations may take place.
Answer In numerical promotion, byte, char, and short values are converted to int
values. The int values are also converted to long values, if necessary. The
long and float values are converted to double values, as required

Question What is the difference between a public and a non-public class?

A public class may be accessed outside of its package. A non-public class
Answer
may not be accessed outside of its package.

Question To what value is a variable of the boolean type automatically initialized?

Answer The default value of the boolean type is false

Question Can try statements be nested?

Answer Yes

What is the difference between the prefix and postfix forms of the ++
Question
operator?
The prefix form performs the increment operation and returns the value
of the increment operation. The postfix form returns the current value all
Answer
of the expression and then performs the increment operation on that
value.

Question What is the purpose of a statement block?

A statement block is used to organize a sequence of statements as a
Answer
single statement group

Question What is a Java package and how is it used?

A Java package is a naming context for classes and interfaces. A package
is used to create a separate name space for groups of classes and
Answer interfaces. Packages are also used to organize related classes and
interfaces into a single API unit and to control accessibility to these classes
and interfaces.

Question What modifiers may be used with a top-level class?

Answer A top-level class may be public, abstract, or final.
-
Question What are the Object and Class classes used for?
The Object class is the highest-level class in the Java class hierarchy. The
Answer Class class is used to represent the classes and interfaces that are loaded
by a Java program.

How does a try statement determine which catch clause should be used
Question
to handle an exception?
When an exception is thrown within the body of a try statement, the
catch clauses of the try statement are examined in the order in which they
Answer
appear. The first catch clause that is capable of handling the exception is
executed. The remaining catch clauses are ignored.

Question What are synchronized methods and synchronized statements?

Synchronized methods are methods that are used to control access to an
object. A thread only executes a synchronized method after it has acquired
the lock for the method's object or class. Synchronized statements are
Answer
similar to synchronized methods. A synchronized statement can only be
executed after a thread has acquired the lock for the object or class
referenced in the synchronized statement.

Question What is the difference between an if statement and a switch statement?

The if statement is used to select among two alternatives. It uses a
boolean expression to decide which alternative should be executed. The
Answer
switch statement is used to select among multiple alternatives. It uses an
int expression to determine which alternative should be executed.

Question What gives java it's "write once and run anywhere" nature?
Java is compiled to be a byte code which is the intermediate language
between source code and machine code. This byte code is not platorm
Answer specific and hence can be fed to any platform. After being fed to the JVM,
which is specific to a particular operating system, the code platform
specific machine code is generated thus making java platform independent.

Question What are the four corner stones of OOP ?

Answer Abstraction, Encapsulation, Polymorphism and Inheritance

Question Difference between a Class and an Object ?

A class is a definition or prototype whereas an object is an instance or
Answer
living representation of the prototype

Question What is the difference between method overriding and overloading?

Answer Overriding is a method with the same name and arguments as in a
 parent, whereas overloading is the same method name but different
arguments

Question What is a "stateless" protocol ?

Without getting into lengthy debates, it is generally accepted that
Answer protocols like HTTP are stateless i.e. there is no retention of state between
a transaction which is a single request response combination

Question What is constructor chaining and how is it achieved in Java ?

A child object constructor always first needs to construct its parent (which
Answer in turn calls its parent constructor.). In Java it is done via an implicit call to
the no-args constructor as the first statement.

Question What is passed by ref and what by value ?

All Java method arguments are passed by value. However, Java does
Answer manipulate objects by reference, and all object variables themselves are
references

You can create a String object as String str = "abc"; Why cant a button
Question
object be created as Button bt = "abc";? Explain
The main reason you cannot create a button by Button bt1= "abc"; is
because "abc" is a literal string (something slightly different than a String
object, by-the-way) and bt1 is a Button object. The only object in Java that
Answer
can be assigned a literal String is java.lang.String. Important to note that
you are NOT calling a java.lang.String constuctor when you type String s =
"abc";

Question What does the "abstract" keyword mean in front of a method? A class?
Abstract keyword declares either a method or a class. If a method has a
abstract keyword in front of it,it is called abstract method.Abstract method
has no body.It has only arguments and return type.Abstract methods act
Answer as placeholder methods that are implemented in the subclasses.
Abstract classes can't be instantiated.If a class is declared as abstract,no
objects of that class can be created.If a class contains any abstract method
it must be declared as abstract

How many methods do u implement if implement the Serializable

Question
Interface?
The Serializable interface is just a "marker" interface, with no methods of
its own to implement. Other 'marker' interfaces are
Answer
java.rmi.Remote
java.util.EventListener

Question What are the practical benefits, if any, of importing a specific class rather
 than an entire package (e.g. import java.net.* versus import
java.net.Socket)?
It makes no difference in the generated class files since only the classes
that are actually used are referenced by the generated class file. There is
another practical benefit to importing single classes, and this arises when
two (or more) packages have classes with the same name. Take
java.util.Timer and javax.swing.Timer, for example. If I import java.util.*
and javax.swing.* and then try to use "Timer", I get an error while
Answer compiling (the class name is ambiguous between both packages). Let's say
what you really wanted was the javax.swing.Timer class, and the only
classes you plan on using in java.util are Collection and HashMap. In this
case, some people will prefer to import java.util.Collection and import
java.util.HashMap instead of importing java.util.*. This will now allow them
to use Timer, Collection, HashMap, and other javax.swing classes without
using fully qualified class names in.

What is the difference between logical data independence and physical

Question
data independence?
Logical Data Independence - meaning immunity of external schemas to
Answer changeds in conceptual schema. Physical Data Independence - meaning
immunity of conceptual schema to changes in the internal schema.

Question What is user defined exception ?

Apart from the exceptions already defined in Java package libraries, user
Answer
can define his own exception classes by extending Exception class.

Question Difference Between Abstraction and Encapsulation

Abstraction is removing some distinctions between objects, so as to show
their commonalities.
Answer
Encapsulation is hiding the details of the implementation of an object so
that there are no external dependencies on the particular implementation.

Question What are Checked and Un-Checked Exceptions? Explain.

Answer Throwable extends Object (checked)
Exception extends Throwable (checked)
RuntimeException extends Exception (un-checked)
Error extends Throwable (un-checked)
So anything that extends Throwable or Exception (except
RuntimeException) will be checked. Anything that extends Error or
RuntimeException will be un-checked
Checked exceptions are problems that arise in correct code and may be
due to technical problems such as IO problems or user mistakes such as
opening a socket when the remote machine does not exist. Because these
problems can occur at anytime, say due to network outage, you must have
code that can handle and recover from these. In fact, the Java compiler
checks that you have trapped them, hence checked exceptions.
Runtime exceptions are typically bugs in the program. Errors are severe
 problems such as out of memory and sufficiently rare, that you are not
required to handle them as they are usually unrecoverable.

Question Can we sort an Hashtable?

Yes. Here is an example
Answer
http://www.javagalaxy.com:8080/CoreJava/View.jsp?slno=90&tbl=0

Question What is the exact difference between Abstract classes and Interfaces?
Interfaces provide a form of multiple inheritance -- any number of
interfaces can be implemented A class can extend only one other class.
Answer Interfaces are limited to public methods and constants with no
implementation. Abstract classes can have a partial implementation,
protected parts, static methods, etc.

Question Garbage collector thread belongs to which priority?

Answer Garbage collector thread belongs to low priority (MIN_PRIORITY)

Question Can you throw (and re-throw) an exception inside a catch{} clause?
Yes, It will cause the exception to be passed to the handlers at the next-
Answer
higher level. All further catch clauses are ignored in the current try block.

Question What is the difference between ArrayList and Vector

Answer Methods in Vectors are synchronized

Question Can we have inner class in the interface ?

Answer Yes.We can have inner class in the interface.

Question How to get values from a Vector

Answer Vector v = new Vector(10,2) v.add(3); v.add(4); int i= v.get(1);

Question What is meant by Instance Variables and Class Variables

instance variables Any item of data that is associated with a particular
object. Each instance of a class has its own copy of the instance variables
defined in the class. Also called a field. class variables A data item
Answer
associated with a particular class as a whole--not with particular instances
of the class. Class variables are defined in class definitions. Also called a
static field

Question What is difference between jsp and Servlet?

Answer The main diff between jsp and servlet is code and content presentation in
 jsp, it is not possible in servlet.

Does the code in finally block get executed if there is an exception and a
Question
return statement in a catch block?
If an exception occurs and there is a return statement in catch block, the
finally block is still executed. The finally block will not be executed when
Answer the System.exit(1) statement is executed earlier or the system shut down
earlier or the memory is used up earlier before the thread goes to finally
block.

Question What are the Object and Class classes used for?
The Object class is the highest-level class in the Java class hierarchy. The
Answer Class class is used to represent the classes and interfaces that are loaded
by a Java program.

What interface must an object implement before it can be written to a

Question
stream as an object?
An object must implement the Serializable or Externalizable interface
Answer
before it can be written to a stream as an object.

Question What is an I/O filter?

An I/O filter is an object that reads from one stream and writes to
Answer another, usually altering the data in some way as it is passed from one
stream to another.

Question What class allows you to read objects directly from a stream?
The ObjectInputStream class supports the reading of objects from input
Answer
streams.

If a class is declared without any access modifiers, where may the class
Question
be accessed?
A class that is declared without any access modifiers is said to have
Answer package or friendly access. This means that the class can only be accessed
by other classes and interfaces that are defined within the same package.

If class A does not implement Serializable but a subclass B implements

Question
Serializable, will the fields of class A be serialized when B is serialized?
Only the fields of Serializable objects are written out and restored. The
object may be restored only if it has a no-arg constructor that will initialize
Answer the fields of non-serializable supertypes. If the subclass has access to the
state of the superclass it can implement writeObject and readObject to
save and restore that state.
 When a Serializable object is written with writeObject, then modified and
Question written a second time, why is the modification missing when the stream is
deserialized?
The ObjectOutputStream class keeps track of each object it serializes and
sends only the handle if the object is written into the stream a subsequent
time. This is the way it deals with graphs of objects. The corresponding
ObjectInputStream keeps track of all of the objects it has created and their
handles so when the handle is seen again it can return the same object.
Answer
Both output and input streams keep this state until they are freed.

Alternatively, the ObjectOutputStream class implements a reset method

that discards the memory of having sent an objecct, so sending an object
again will make a copy.

Question How do I get the serialVersionUID of a class?

Run the serialver tool, supplying the name of the class, as shown in the
example that follows:
Answer
serialver java.lang.String

The object serialization classes are stream oriented. How do I write

Question
objects to a random access file?
Currently there is no direct way to write objects to a random access file.

You can use the ByteArray I/O streams as an intermediate place to write
and read bytes to/from the random access file and create Object I/O
streams from the byte streams to write/read the objects. You just have to
make sure that you have the entire object in the byte stream or
Answer
reading/writing the object will fail.

For example, java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream can be used to receive the

bytes of ObjectOutputStream. From it you can get a byte[] of the result
which, in turn, can be used with ByteArrayInputStream as input to
ObjectInput.

Can I compress the serial representation of my objects using my own

Question
zip/unzip methods?
ObjectOutputStream produces an OutputStream. If your zip object
Answer
extends the OutputStream class, there is no problem compressing it.

When a local object is serialized and passed as a parameter in an RMI

call, are the byte codes for the local object's methods also passed? What
Question
about object coherency, if the remote VM application "keeps" the object
handle?
Answer The bytecodes for a local object's methods are not passed directly in the
 ObjectOutputStream, but the object's class may need to be loaded by the
receiver if the class is not already available locally. (The class files
themselves are not serialized, just the names of the classes.) All classes
must be able to be loaded during deserialization using the normal class
loading mechanisms. For applets this means they are loaded by the
AppletClassLoader.

There are no conherency guarantees for local objects passed to a remote

VM, since such objects are passed by copying their contents (a true pass-
by-value).

Question Explain about Singleton Class

Refer this link for an example
http://www.javagalaxy.com:8080/CoreJava/View.jsp?slno=92&tbl=0
In general, you use a singleton to enforce the notion that there will be only
one instance of a given class. Singletons should be used in situations
where creating more than one of something would be a logical error.

For example, a ConnectionPool would be a good place to use a singleton. If

clients could arbitrarily create ConnectionPools without regard to what
already exists, you would have a waste of resources. So you limit the
possible number of connection pools to 1 (per JVM), and you then know
that all clients are getting their connections from a single source.
Answer
Another example of Singleton use is for Object Factories. Say you have a
class called FooFactory that is responsible for fetching/saving Fool objects
to/from a database. You want to ensure that for each Fool record in the db,
there is only one corresponding Fool object floating around your
application. By centralizing all the creation logic in a single class, and
making that class a Singleton, you eliminate the possibility fool duplicate
objects.

The code that uses a connection obtained from the connection pool is
another matter. If all it does is do a getData() type operation, there is no
harm in having more than one of them.

Strings are immutable, How are we able to perform concatination on

Question
String object?
Answer Yes. Strings are immutable. Thats why while concatenating, it always
returns a new string object.
If we take this example :
String s1 = "psn";
s1 = s1.concat("prasad"); // Here you are reassigning the new object to
the older reference s1
System.out.println(s1);

String s1 = "psn";
String s2 = s1.concat("prasad");
System.out.println(s1); // will remain same . no change. it prints "psn"
only
 System.out.println(s2); // as you have assigned the newly created object
to s2

Question It is valid to declare an inherited method as abstract?

Yes,It is valid. However, there is no way to get to behaviour which is
Answer located above the abstract method in the hierarchy. In effect, you will block
access to parent methods further up the hierarchy.

Question what is j2EE?

J2EE means Java 2 Enterprise Edition.. it follows certain rules and
regulations to develop web technologies. and certain technologies are
Answer
under comes i this category like EJB/JSP/Servlets/JMS/Web Servers/App
Servers/Struts and Oracle-9.0i

Question Can an Interface have an inner class? "Comment by Manoj Dudhe"

Yes. Interface can have an inner class. The possible use of this is to
provide multiple inheritance in java. A class "abc1" can extend normal class
Answer "abc2" and can implement an Interface "abc" having an inner class "abc3".
This way class "abc1" can get the functionality of both "abc2" and "abc3"
classes.

Question what is tunnelling?

Tunnelling is a route to somewhere. For example, RMI tunnelling is a way
Answer to make RMI application get through firewall. In CS world, tunnelling
means a way to transfer data.

Question What is the difference between the File and RandomAccessFile classes?
The File class encapsulates the files and directories of the local file
Answer system. The RandomAccessFile class provides the methods needed to
directly access data contained in any part of a file.

Question How are this() and super() used with constructors?

this() is used to invoke a constructor of the same class. super() is used to
Answer
invoke a superclass constructor

Question What is casting?

There are two types of casting, casting between primitive numeric types
and casting between object references. Casting between numeric types is
Answer used to convert larger values, such as double values, to smaller values,
such as byte values. Casting between object references is used to refer to
an object by a compatible class, interface, or array type reference.
Question What is the purpose of the Runtime class?
The purpose of the Runtime class is to provide access to the Java runtime
Answer
system

Question Does object serialization support encryption?

Object serialization does not contain any encryption/decryption in itself. It
writes to and reads from Java Streams, so it can be coupled with any
Answer available encryption technology. Object serialization can be used in many
different ways from simple persistence, writing and read to/from files, or
for RMI to communicate across hosts.

Why is OutOfMemoryError thrown after writing a large number of objects

Question
into an ObjectOutputStream?
The ObjectOutputStream maintains a table mapping objects written into
the stream to a handle. The first time an object is written to a stream, its
contents are written into the stream; subsequent writes of the object result
in a handle to the object being written into the stream. This table
Answer maintains references to objects that might otherwise be unreachable by an
application, thus, resulting in an unexpected situation of running out of
memory. A call to the ObjectOutputStream.reset() method resets the
object/handle table to its initial state, allowing all previously written
objects to be eligible for garbage collection.

Why is UTFDataFormatException thrown by DataOutputStream.writeUTF()

Question
when serializing a String?
DataOutputStream.writeUTF() does not support writing out strings larger
than 64K. The first two bytes of a UTF string in the stream are the length
Answer of the string. If a java.lang.String can be larger than 64K, it needs to be
stored in the stream by an alternative method rather than depending on
the default method of storing a String in the stream, writeUTF.

How can I create an ObjectInputStream from an ObjectOutputStream

Question
without a file in between?
ObjectOutputStream and ObjectInputStream work to/from any stream
object. You could use a ByteArrayOutputStream and then get the array and
insert it into a ByteArrayInputStream. You could also use the piped stream
classes as well. Any java.io class that extends the OutputStream and
Answer InputStream classes can be used.

Alternatively, the ObjectOutputStream> class implements a reset method

that discards the memory of having sent an object, so sending an object
again will make a copy.

Why can't a file that contains multiple appended ObjectOutputStreams be

Question
deserialized by one ObjectInputStream?
 Using the default implementation of serialization, there must be a one-to-
one mapping between ObjectOutputStream construction and
ObjectInputStream construction. ObjectOutputStream constructor writes a
stream header andObjectInputStream reads this stream header. A
Answer workaround is to subclass ObjectOutputStream and override
writeStreamHeader(). The overriding writeStreamHeader() should call the
super writeStreamHeader method if it is the first write to the file and it
should call ObjectOutputStream.reset() if it is appending to a pre-existing
ObjectOutputStream within the file.

Question What is the difference between Shallow Copy and Deep Copy?
Answer Shallow Copy:
If a shallow copy is performed on an object, then it gets copied but its
contained objects are not copied. Also any changes made in the cloned
object is automatically reflected in the shallowed copy object as well. An
example

class Student implements Cloneable

{
public String name;
public String age;
public Student(String name,String address)
{
this.name = name;
this.age = age;
}
public Object clone() throws java.lang.CloneNotSupportedException
{
return this;
}
}

public class ShallowCloneClient

{
public ShallowCloneClient() throws java.lang.CloneNotSupportedException
{
Student st1 = new Student("guddu","22,nagar road");
Student st2 = (Student)st1.clone();
st2.name="new name";
System.out.println(st1.name);
}
public static void main(String args[]) throws
java.lang.CloneNotSupportedException
{
new ShallowCloneClient();
}
}

When you execute the programme, the output will be "new name", this
shows that both st1 and st2 instances are the same, changing one changes
other too.

Deep Copy:

A deep copy occurs when an object is copied along with the objects to
which it refers to are also copied. This occurs only when every object in the
tree is serializable. An example

import java.io.*;

class Student1 implements Cloneable,Serializable

{
public String name;
public String age;
public Student1(String name,String address)
{
this.name = name;
this.age = age;
}
public Object clone() throws java.lang.CloneNotSupportedException
{
try{
ByteArrayOutputStream byteArr = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
ObjectOutputStream objOut = new ObjectOutputStream(byteArr);
objOut.writeObject(this);
ByteArrayInputStream byteArrIn = new
ByteArrayInputStream(byteArr.toByteArray());
ObjectInputStream objIn = new ObjectInputStream(byteArrIn);
return objIn.readObject();
}catch(Exception ex){
ex.printStackTrace();
return null;
}
}
}

public class ShallowCloneClient1

{
public ShallowCloneClient1() throws java.lang.CloneNotSupportedException
{
Student1 st1 = new Student1("guddu","22,nagar road");
Student1 st2 = (Student1)st1.clone();
st2.name="new name";
System.out.println(st1.name);
}
public static void main(String args[]) throws
java.lang.CloneNotSupportedException
{
new ShallowCloneClient1();
}
}
 When you execute the programme, the output will be "guddu", this shows
that st1 and st2 instances are different.

Question Can an abstract class have final method?

Answer Yes

Question Can an abstract class have only final methods?

Answer Yes

Question Can a final class have abstract method?

Answer No. It gives compile time error saying that the class is not abstract.

Can you compare if null is equal to null? i.e.

String str = null;
String str1 = null;
Question
if(str == str1)
SOP("true");
Yes, And its going to be true as the objects have not been allocated any
Answer
memory location.

Post-increment or Post-Decrement? Which would give better

performance?
e.g. for(int x=0; x < 10000; x++)
Question SOP("JG");

for(int y>0; y < 10000; y--)

SOP("JG");
Post-Decrement would give better performance. This is due to the binary
Answer subtraction
(1's complement/ 2's complement)

Question What's the difference between a queue and a stack?

Stacks works by last-in-first-out rule (LIFO), while queues use the FIFO
Answer
rule.

Can an inner class declared inside of a method access local variables of

Question
this method?
Answer It's possible if these variables are final.

Question What are the different ways in which polymorphism can be achieved in
 java?
Polymorphism can be acheived two ways
overloading - static binding/early binding
overriding - dynamic binding/late binding

Answer In case of overloading the method to be called is decided at the compile

time based on the method signature.

In case of overriding the method to be called is decided at run time and

NOT at compile time. This is runtime polymorphism.

Question What's the difference between constructors and other methods?

Constructors must have the same name as the class and can not return a
Answer value. They are only called once while
regular methods could be called many times.

Question It is valid to declare an inherited method as abstract?

Yes its valid to declare an inherited method abstract. But it would be of no
use as you need to define the class
abstract again.

e.g.

abstract class AbsTest

{
Answer abstract void setName(String name);
}

public class AbsTest1 extends AbsTest //compile error is thrown as there is

an abstract method, declare the class abstract
{
abstract void setName(String name){} // error, abstract method
cannot have body
}

What would you use to compare two String variables - the operator == or
Question
the method equals()?
I'd use the method equals() to compare the values of the Strings and the
Answer == to check if two variables point at the
same instance of a String object.

Question How do you know if an explicit object casting is needed?

Answer If you assign a superclass object to a variable of a subclass's data type,
you need to do explicit casting. For example:
Object a; Customer b; b = (Customer) a;

When you assign a subclass to a variable having a supeclass type, the

 casting is performed automatically.

What will the output of the following programme be? Look at the
programme carefully, we have an instance method and
static method (class method) defined in both Animal class and Cat class.

public class Animal {

public static void hide() {
System.out.format("The hide method in Animal.%n");
}
public void override() {
System.out.format("The override method in Animal.%n");
}
}

public class Cat extends Animal {

Question
public static void hide() {
System.out.format("The hide method in Cat.%n");
}
public void override() {
System.out.format("The override method in Cat.%n");
}

public static void main(String[] args) {

Cat myCat = new Cat();
Animal myAnimal = myCat;
//myAnimal.hide(); //BAD STYLE
Animal.hide(); //Better!
myAnimal.override();
}
}
Answer The output of the programme will be..

The hide method in Animal.

The override method in Cat.

For class methods, the runtime system invokes the method defined in the
compile-time type of the reference on which the
method is called. In the example, the compile-time type of myAnimal is
Animal. Thus, the runtime system invokes the hide
method defined in Animal. For instance methods, the runtime system
invokes the method defined in the runtime type of the
reference on which the method is called. In the example, the runtime type
of myAnimal is Cat. Thus, the runtime system
invokes the override method defined in Cat.
 An instance method cannot override a static method, and a static method
cannot hide an instance method.

Have a look at the following code.

How do I execute the method d() in class B without creating another
instance in the main method.

class A {
void c() {
System.out.println("In A class");
}
}
Question
public class B extends A {
void d() {
System.out.println("In B class");
}

public static void main(String args[]) {

A a = new B();
}
}
Answer you will need to typecast the object to ((B)a).d();